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Who will be in your team?
The premiers have been favourites among Fantasy coaches for the last few years and it will be the case again in 2015, with star players across the park plus a schedule that features games in all three of the major bye rounds. That might not be great for Greg Inglis's Fantasy prospects – with the Queensland star to miss at least five games between Round 11 and Round 18 – but South Sydney's non-Origin players (George Burgess, Adam Reynolds, Issac Luke, etc) should be popular buys for serious Fantasy coaches.
Fantasy Guns
Adam Reynolds ($476,000) – Got the monkey off his back by leading his team to victory in the biggest game of the season, and starts the new season as the Rabbitohs' most expensive Fantasy player following the departure of Sam Burgess. Gets a ton of kick metres, kicks goals from everywhere, and is a solid defender with about 20 tackles a game. Expect more mid-50s scores from the premiers' No.7.
George Burgess ($437,000) – With big brother Sam gone, George becomes the club's star Englishman this year and with more responsibility should come more Fantasy points. A human wrecking ball who can crash through defensive lines and grab the odd try, while also contributing on the defensive end, Burgess is just what you need in a Fantasy front-rower and the Rabbitohs' draw makes him an even more tempting buy for those of you looking to score well in the major bye rounds. He only managed two tries last season – five fewer than the previous year – and about 52 minutes a game, but both those numbers should rise a little this year.
Greg Inglis ($426,000) – With Jarryd Hayne trying his hand at NFL, Inglis is set to resume his mantle as the most damaging fullback in NRL Fantasy. Probably the most fearsome ball-runner in the game, with more kick return metres a game than Hayne last year, GI is capable of smashing a monster score on any given week in Fantasy. And after being appointed club captain he's likely to take even more responsibility for sparking the side in attack this season. He started the Rabbitohs' last campaign with a hat-trick and 79 Fantasy points against the Roosters, so if he can go close to matching that in Round 1 this year you can expect a lot of Fantasy coaches to snap him up quickly. Beware though if you're playing for overall points or if your private league is playing head-to-head matches on the bye rounds, that Inglis will miss a lot of games in the middle of the season.
Dylan Walker ($386,000) – Walker enjoyed a breakthrough season in the centres in 2014, playing his way into Australia's Four Nations squad after a string of superb performances – none better than a mid-season stretch when he produced Fantasy scores of 60, 71, 53, 69, 60 and 62. He was busting tackles for fun during that run of games, with his price skyrocketing from $260,101 to $395,112. Whether he can repeat that kind of form remains to be seen, but there's a reason he'll start the year as the second-most expensive centre in Fantasy.
Wild Cards
Thomas Burgess ($290,000) – George's identical twin obviously has the raw ability to dominate in the NRL, and if George will be required to step up in the absence of Sam it stands to reason that Tom will need to do the same. He came off the bench for all but one game last season, playing about 40 minutes a week, and that number will need to rise for Tom to become a valuable Fantasy player.
Tim Grant ($232,000) – Out of favour in his final season at Penrith, Grant started at prop four times for the Panthers last year before being relegated to brief stints off the bench of 30 minutes or less. Grant gets the chance to revive his career at Souths, and while he's likely to join Tom Burgess on the bench he does at least start at about $60,000 cheaper than the Englishman.
Potential Cash Cow
Glenn Stewart ($201,000) – A class player who has never really been a significant factor in Fantasy, Stewart comes very cheap thanks to his brief, injury-affected six-game season at Manly last year. The new signing is set to fill the boots of Sam Burgess at lock, and the absence of the Rabbitohs' best forward of 2014 leaves a lot of tackles and hit-ups to be made by somebody this year. Stewart scored less than 26 points a game last season, so if he can lift that to the mid-30s at Souths he could expect about $100,000 in price rises.
Rabbitohs 2015 NRL Fantasy prices
Adam Reynolds, $476,000
George Burgess, $437,000
Greg Inglis, $426,000
Issac Luke, $400,000
Dylan Walker, $386,000
John Sutton, $369,000
Alex Johnston, $310,000
Kirisome Auva'a, $294,000
Thomas Burgess, $290,000
Ben Lowe, $269,000
Kyle Turner, $255,000
Chris McQueen, $253,000
David Tyrrell, $248,000
Tim Grant, $232,000
Luke Burgess, $225,000
Jason Clark, $225,000
Joel Reddy, $222,000
Cameron McInnes, $222,000
Luke Keary, $214,000
Glenn Stewart, $201,000
Bryson Goodwin, $200,000
Aaron Gray, $128,000
Angus Crichton, $128,000
Ed Murphy, $128,000
Cody Walker, $128,000
Chris Grevsmuhl, $128,000
